The 11 Jews who triggered the crisis by moving into two buildings Sunday in the Ras al-Amud neighborhood vacated the compound yesterday evening, under an agreement reached between the government and the owner of the buildings, Miami millionaire Dr. Irving Moskowitz.
But several of their supporters remained at the site, part of the deal that allows 10 seminary students to stay on as security guards and workers.
The building dispute between Palestinians and Jewish militants touched on the sensitive issue of Jerusalem's final status. Palestinians hope to create a Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem - a move Jewish hardliners are determined to prevent.
Israeli government critics said yesterday's deal had, in effect, sanctioned a new Jewish settlement in the disputed territory.
But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hoped the compromise would satisfy the Palestinians while placating right-wing members of his parliamentary coalition who had threatened to bring down his government if the Jews were forcibly expelled.
The executions, the second this month, were carried out under recently imposed Islamic law.
They were intended both as a graphic warning to criminals in the restive Muslim republic and as the latest assertion of Chechnya's independence from Russia, which denounced the earlier executions.
09-19-97
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